Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
1
SOIL CULTIVATION DEVICE
The invention relates to a soil cultivation device.
Such devices, which are also called harrows, are known. For example, reference
is made
to the "original harrows" shown and described in the pamphlet "Hatzenbichler
AUSTRIAN-
AGRO-TECHNIK." This known harrow has a supporting frame with multiple tie
bars, to which
harrow tines are fastened. The harrow tines comprise a triple-spiral section,
so that during
cultivation of the soil, the tines can be used to remove weeds from fields
with crops, such as
grains, soy, corn, sunflowers, strawberries, sugar beets, canola, and the
like.
Another generic soil cultivation device is known from EP 1 961 283 Bl. This
known soil
cultivation device, which is intended in particular for cultivating land areas
for crops, has a
supporting frame and multiple harrow tines that are arranged to pivot on the
supporting frame.
In addition, an adjustment system assigned to the harrow tines is provided.
By means of the adjustment system, the pretensioning of the harrow tines that
are
pretensioned via springs can be adjusted. In the case of the soil cultivation
device that is known
from EP 1 961 283 Bl, it is problematic that the harrow tines are pretensioned
with coil springs,
which is not only a considerable expense, but is also susceptible to
breakdown.
Soil cultivation devices with flexible tools that work soil in furrows are
known from DE
199 56 953 Al, US 2019/0045700 Al, and DE 10 2016 107 951 Al.
Generic soil cultivation devices ("harrows") are known from US 5,492,182 A, US
6,164,386 A, US 2012/0073844 Al, and WO 2018/191767 Al.
WO 2018/191767 Al shows a generic soil cultivation device with pivotable,
bearing-
mounted harrow tines, wherein the ends of the harrow tines that project over
the bearings are
coupled to coil springs. The hydraulic cylinder mentioned in WO 2018/191767 Al
is not used to
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-05-14
2
move the harrow tines or to load them elastically, but rather to adjust a
frame relative to the base
rack.
In the case of this known soil cultivation device, it is disadvantageous that
the force that
acts with the coil springs on the harrow tines varies with the pivot bearing
of the harrow tines.
The cultivator for furrowing soil cultivation, known from DE 10 2016 107 951
Al, has
spring tines with at least one spring coil. In this case, the pretensioning is
to be adjustable. To
this end, DE 10 2016 107 951 Al proposes providing a supporting element
(paragraph [0020],
Figs. 2a-2d). Paragraph [0021] of DE 10 2016 107 951 Al mentions ¨ without
more exact
information as to how this can be achieved ¨ setting the pretensioning of the
spring elements
with a hydraulic or pneumatic actuator and/or a spring and/or damping element.
Also, in the
case of the embodiment of the cultivator of DE 10 2016 107 951 Al, the spring
action is itself
determined by the spring coil of the spring tine. DE 10 2016 107 951 Al does
not disclose a
swinging-out of the spring tine by means of a pivotable bearing.
The object of the invention is to make available a soil cultivation device of
the above-
mentioned type, in which the harrow tines are prestressed into their operating
position and ¨
relative to the working direction ¨ do not make transverse movements
(oscillations) to a
significant extent.
This object is achieved according to the invention with a soil cultivation
device that has
the features of: a supporting frame comprising a tie bar, with multiple harrow
tines arranged to
pivot on the supporting frame, wherein one spring each is assigned to the
harrow tines, wherein
the operating position of the harrow tines is determined by a stop arranged on
the supporting
frame, and wherein the harrow tines are prestressed into their operating
position by the springs,
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-05-14
3
characterized in that the springs are pneumatic springs, in particular
pneumatic cylinders, and in
that the pneumatic springs are compressed by compressed air via pressure-
regulating valves.
In the invention, it is provided that the prestressing springs that place a
load on the
harrow tines in their operating position are pneumatic springs. Since the
pneumatic springs are
compressed by compressed air via pressure-regulating valves, it is ensured
that the force with
which the harrow tines are loaded is of equal value in all pivoting positions
of the harrow tines,
i.e., also is not greater in the case of increasing pivoting of the harrow
tines.
Since, in the case of the soil cultivation device according to the invention,
the operating
position of the harrow tines is determined by a stop that is arranged on the
supporting frame and
since a pneumatic spring is assigned to each harrow tine, which spring
pretensions the harrow
tine in its operating position, not only is a cultivation that is safe for the
crops provided for the
purpose of removing weeds, but transverse movements (movements of the harrow
tines
crosswise to the working direction) are also avoided completely or at least to
a large extent. In a
practical embodiment of the soil cultivation device according to the
invention, the harrow tines
are fastened to levers that for their part are mounted to pivot on the
supporting frame, in
particular on tie bars of the supporting frame.
In an embodiment of the soil cultivation device according to the invention, it
is provided
that the pneumatic springs act, on the one hand, on the carriers on which the
levers are mounted
to pivot with the tines, and, on the other hand, on the levers at some
distance from the swivel
axes of the levers.
In the case of the soil cultivation device according to the invention, it can
be provided
that the tie bars are mounted to rotate in the supporting frame, so that the
harrow tines can be
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-05-14
4
pivoted from a working position (= operating position) into a transport
position, wherein the
harrow tines are brought toward the supporting frame in the transport
position.
Additional details and features of the invention follow from the description
below of a
preferred embodiment of the soil cultivation device according to the invention
based on the
drawings. Here:
Fig. 1 shows a soil cultivation device in an oblique view,
Fig. 2 shows a top view on the soil cultivation device of Fig. 1,
Fig. 3 shows a side view of the soil cultivation device of Fig. 1, wherein the
harrow tines
are in operating position,
Fig. 4 shows the soil cultivation device of Fig. 1 with harrow tines that are
pivoted into
transport position,
Fig. 5 shows a detail of the bearing of the harrow tines and the springs
assigned thereto,
Fig. 6, in a view similar to Fig. 5, shows the position of the harrow tine
when the latter
collides with an obstacle (stone), and
Fig. 7 shows the tine pressures exerted by the harrow tines.
A soil cultivation device 1 according to the invention comprises a supporting
frame 2,
which in the embodiment that is shown has six tie bars 3. The tie bars 3 are
connected to one
another via walls 4 that are arranged laterally in the supporting frame 2. In
this case, the tie bars
3 in the walls 4 are mounted to rotate in bearings 5, so that the tie bars 3
can be rotated around
axes that are parallel to their longitudinal extensions.
To rotate the tie bars 3, arms 6 are fastened to them, which arms are
connected to one
another via coupling rods 7. The connections of the free ends of the arms 6 to
the coupling rods
7 are designed as articulations, so that the tie bars 3 can be rotated by
means of a hydraulic
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-05-14
5
cylinder 8 by adjusting the coupling rods 7. Thus, the harrow tines 10 can be
pivoted from the
operating position (= working position) shown in Fig. 3 into the readiness
position (= transport
position) shown in Fig. 4.
The harrow tines 10 that consist of spring steel have angled free ends 11,
wherein for soil
cultivation, the angled ends 11 drive into the soil in order to remove weeds
(cf. Fig. 5).
The harrow tines 10 are fastened to levers 12. The levers 12 are mounted to
pivot on
carriers 13, wherein the carriers 13 are fastened to the tie bars 3 of the
supporting frame 2. On
one arm 14 of the carriers 13 that are essentially designed with two arms, the
levers 12 are
mounted to pivot via bearings 15. On the other arm 16 of the carrier 13, a
pneumatic cylinder
17, which acts as a pneumatic spring, is supported by articulation. The piston
19 of the
pneumatic cylinder 17 is connected by articulation to the lever 12, which
carries the harrow tines
10. The position at which the pneumatic cylinder 17 is connected to the lever
12 is at some
distance from the pivot bearing 15 of the lever 13.
The levers 12 have bearing surfaces 18 that are arranged on the side of the
lever 12 that is
opposite the position at which the piston 19 of the pneumatic cylinder 17 acts
on the lever 12 and
the end that is away from the harrow tines 10. In the operating position of
the harrow tines 10
that is shown in Fig. 5, the bearing surface 18 is adjacent to a lateral
surface of the tie bar 3, on
which the harrow tine 10 is mounted to pivot.
By compressing the pneumatic cylinders 17, the latter act as springs, and the
harrow tines
are prestressed into their operating position, in which the bearing surfaces
18 are adjacent to
the tie bars 3. Nevertheless, the harrow tines 10, in particular when they
collide with an obstacle,
as is shown in Fig. 6, can pivot when the pneumatic cylinder 17 is compressed
and can go around
the obstacle without the harrow tines 10 being damaged.
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-05-14
6
The pneumatic cylinders 17 are compressed by compressed air via pressure-
regulating
valves. Thus, it is possible to keep the tine pressure at the free ends 11 of
the harrow tines 10 at
equal value in all pivot bearings of the harrow tines 10. This applies not
only for the pivot
bearings of the harrow tines 10 shown in Figs. 5 and 6 but also for the entire
pivoting area
between the pivot bearings of the harrow tines 10 shown in Figs. 5 and 6.
Fig. 7 shows the tine pressure (F1 to F6) that is exerted by harrow tines 10
in various pivot
bearings. In the case of the soil cultivation device 1 according to the
invention, Fi= F2 = F3 =
F4 = F5 = F6.
In summary, an embodiment of the invention can be described as follows:
In the case of a soil cultivation device 1 with multiple harrow tines 10, the
harrow tines
are fastened to levers 12, which are mounted to pivot on the tie bars 3 of the
supporting frame
2 via carriers 13. By virtue of the fact that the levers 12 are adjacent to
the tie bars 3, the
operating position of the harrow tines 10 is defined, and the harrow tines 10
are prestressed into
the operating position by springs assigned to them in the form of pneumatic
cylinders 17.
Date Recue/Date Received 2020-05-14
